Dr. Vanessa Julia Carpenter is the Chief Innovation Officer at Gagarín, an Icelandic experience design studio which has 28 years experience creating immersive, engaging, interactive exhibitions in museums and visitor centers. Here, Vanessa is co-creating Astrid.is, a climate change educational suite in VR. Using her 20 years experience in industry and her PhD in Designing for Meaningfulness in Future Smart Products from AAU, Copenhagen, she challenges the status quo and explores how to facilitate personal and interpersonal self development in our technological futures. Vanessa believes in being a catalyst for change and has launched the Nordic network, “Women in Hardware”; writes for TechTruster.dk and Greater Spaces at ING.dk; is a member of the Danish Design Council and is founder and designer at Kintsugi Design, a design studio specializing in hardware, femtech, and creating robust futures.